Rhapsody
by Dragoon-Yue
Summary: Satella Harvenheit had expected to be a very, very old woman if she ever lived long enough to see the end of the century... Not a young woman in her prime.
1. Wake-Up

One year and two months ago a stone statue of two women hugging in a kneeling position had washed up on a beach. This statue was actually two sisters frozen into stone during a fight that had been raging in the 1920s. At the time they had been on an ancient, alien ship made out of nanomachines (how they got there was something of a long story) that was dissolving in the atmosphere. The entire planet nearly got bioformed by this event and didn't even know it. The ship had crashed into the Atlantic ocean ten thousand years ago with catastrophic results for it's crew and passengers. The command was almost completely wiped out and the Core (the AI that ran the entire colony ship) was catastrophically damaged. All information became need-to-know and slowly, but surely, they forgot where they came from and began to define themselves as Humans did. They were the race of Daimons – bastardized into 'Demon' – that fell from the sky and shattered the world. This fall had occurred three thousand years after the Calamity From the Sky had nearly devoured the world. This same Calamity had nearly destroyed Pandemonium when she crashed. It was only because the planet had thrown a group of warriors – long dead by that point – out of the River of Souls to help fight the Calamity that the Demons (and the Human race) had survived.

Not that Satella, who had been woken two months ago from being a statue, knew any of that. Nor would she have cared if she had known since it had all happened a long time ago, the fight was over and Pandemonium was destroyed. Needless to say it had no relevancy to her life. Satella's elder sister had been freed just before Satella herself, but no one knew when Florette/Fiore (she generally preferred the latter name) had woken up nor where she had gone. Having already spent most of her life searching for her Satella had decided to finally move on with her life and to stop searching for her elder sister. The older woman obviously didn't want to be found.

Stretching in bed Satella wondered what had woken her. Then her phone range and she figured it out. Climbing out of bed with a sigh she went over to the phone and picked it up, hoping that it was someone calling to tell her that she had gotten the job that she had applied for. She doubted that the Hendrics Foundation – the ones who had found her and her sister over a year ago as a statue – wanted to keep paying her bills.

"Hello, Satella Harvenheit speaking, may I ask who's calling?"

_"It's Korvin Hendrics."_ Came the reply from the other end.

Korvin was Azmaria's grandson. The former Apostle had become a nun after everything that had happened and adopted a number of orphans after the second World War. Hence her surname remaining 'Hendrics' even though she evidently had children (Satella had honestly thought that Azmaria had gotten herself pregnant out of wed-lock, but had since been corrected on that assumption). She had no idea where his name came from, but it was certainly interesting sounding.

"Eh? Yes?" She answered, hoping that this phone call wasn't what she feared it was about.

_"I was wondering if you could do the Hendrics Foundation a favour?"_

Not like she could say 'no' all considered...

_"Uh, well, actually if want to say 'no' that is fine..."_

Oh shoot, did she say that out loud?

_"...No you did not say it out loud. My apologies. I'm a telepath. The last case of someone being displaced in time ended with the individual hanging themselves. I was asked to keep tabs on you to make certain that you'll be alright."_

Oh, well... COULDN'T THEY HAVE TOLD HER THAT? It seemed a bit important to her.

_"Er, yes, again, my apologies. In any case, as I said, you can say 'no' if you wish."_

She sighed and said, "Just spit it out."

Clearing his throat he told her what the favour was. She pounced on it.


	2. GPS

Satella – do to being out in the countryside – was, for once, not wearing a tight dress and highheels. Instead she was wearing skinny jeans, boots and a boat-necked shirt with long sleeves. Flicking back some of her extraordinarily long, auburn hair she surveyed some of her surroundings. She was at the foothills of a mountain range in Canada – called the Coast Mountains, if she recalled correctly – and was momentarily stunned at the breath-taking view.

"Wow..." She muttered, then remembered that she had to climb the mountain towering in front of her and that there were no pre-made paths.

Well, at least she knew that she had the physical stamina to make the climb. The problem was going to be finding her target. One small set of strange ruins protected by monsters. With a sigh she started forward, glad for the advent of GPS and the map indicating where the ruins were.

Three hours later and Satella wanted to rip apart her map. Turned out that it wasn't as precise as it looked and – even worse – it didn't indicate the cardinal directions. Instead, she folded it up and stuffed it in her back pocket and turned to her GPS to try and figure out where she was. Satella vaguely wondered why the last case of a temporally displaced person had ended with suicide. She put the thought out of her mind (the question had been plaguing her since she had heard about it) and focused the GPS.

"Are you the one that the Hendrics Foundation insisted on sending?" A smooth, male voice (that sent a shiver down Satella's spine) asked from behind and above her.

She whirled around and looked up to find a man dressed in black and wearing a red, leather coat standing on top of a mossy boulder. He stared at her arrogantly with impossibly blue eyes, from under a mop of styled, red-brown hair. He had fine, almost effeminate features, full lips, broad shoulders, a lean body and a sword at his hip. He gave her a once-over and a strange smile pulled up at those kissable lips. Satella decided in that moment that it had been far to long since she had last shared a bed with a man and that she needed to fix this problem... As soon as she was done with this job.

"And you are?" She asked, calmly, trying to remain professional and not to come across as flirty.

"Genesis Rhapsodos."

"Interesting name."

He just smirked at her. Satella felt her cheeks warm and mentally cursed her hormones.


	3. Ruins

Genesis was annoyed. One of the few times he swallows his pride long enough to ask for some help and what does he get for it? A (admittedly attractive) young woman who very obviously had no experience with combat. Her eyes were boring into his back as he led her towards the ruins in silence. At least she wasn't complaining about the climb. Now if only the Foundation had thought to give him some information on the woman... On top of that Genesis had no idea why the Lifestream had spat him out this time and usually he did. It was making him cranky.

They arrived at the 'ruins' and he gave her a moment to absorb it all. In a small valley what looked like a futuristic, metal city rose up from amid an emerald sea of trees. At the far end were numerous waterfalls tumbling down in a distant, muted roar. At the base of the waterfalls, Genesis knew, was a lake that fed rivers and streams throughout the valley that tumbled into yet more waterfalls or pools.

"The valley is deeper – and larger – than it looks." He warned her and started heading down.

She hurried to follow.

* * *

It was an hour later when she realized just how right he was. Most of the trees that could be seen from above were actually on over-lapping and inter-connected terraces, each one being supported by sturdy latticework. The architecture of it all reminded her of what she had seen within Pandemonium... In fact, she realized with a sudden jolt, it was identical. Satella was beginning to wonder if these 'monsters' were, in fact, Demons. To confirm or disprove her theory she asked him what the monster's looked like. His answer all-but confirmed her suspicion.

"Upright, white starfish with teeth in the upper arm. Sometimes they have other features as well, but it's hard to tell."

Wonderful. They sounded just like the Demons that Pandemonium had turned into her 'antibodies' when the Sinners had made their attack. How did they end up in this valley? Had they been present from the start and simply changed with the others when Pandemonium rose out of the ocean? Satella supposed that she she'd get her answers soon enough. In the meantime, she had another question.

"If this place is guarded by monster shouldn't we be proceeding with more caution?"

"They don't like sunlight, so we're fine for now."

Well, he certainly didn't lack for confidence.

"Don't worry," He added over his shoulder and – just for a moment – she thought that he was going to be nice, then he said condescendingly, almost movkingly, "You'll get your chance to see your 'monsters'."

She wanted to hit him.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry to all of the Final Fantasy: Crisis Core fans out there. I know that Genesis is out of character, but it **has** been thousands of years... So I have some leeway, right?


	4. Queen

Genesis kept leading her through the city and, Satella realized, straight to it's center. She asked him why. Glancing over his shoulder for a moment he answered.

"To show you their queen. Afterwards I expect you to send word back to the Foundation that I need the help of someone who actually knows how to fight these things."

She didn't bother to inform him that – out of everyone that they could have sent – she had the most combat experience. In fact, she was the **only** one with combat experience. It wasn't his business to know that she had been fighting Demons since she was a child.

* * *

When they were near the center of the ruins they came to a convergence of the waterways that then parted around a small island. On the island was a white-green tower that looked somewhat palatial. Satella could feel waves of power coming from it and she suspected that whatever was generating such power was the reason why no one had yet found the little valley (excepting Genesis, who had told the Foundation).

Whatever, or whoever, was inside made Satella uneasy.

Genesis held his hand out over the water and it started to glow. Turning his hand over he abruptly jerked it towards himself. Out of the water erupted a bridge. The splash it created soaked her clothes through.

"My clothes!"

Genesis glanced over at her outburst.

"Sorry. I would have warned you, but you wouldn't have believed me." He said, gesturing to the bridge he had just made.

Following his gesture she had to agree.

"Lets just go." She snapped irritably, not in the mood to be reasonable.

* * *

After walking through a confusing maze of hexagonal corridors, taking an elevator and climbing more stairs than she cared to count they finally came to a cavernous room with multiple entrances evenly spaced around the perimeter. At the center was a dais on which lay half a woman. Out of the bottom of her torso several of her organs sprawled and were connected to what – somewhat – looked like machines. Machines with a structure that reminded her of what her animal-like summons had looked like. It was a similarity that she had ignored when she had been in Pandemonium but now focused on because of the horrific sight on the dais. She didn't dare look to closely there.

A sudden noise brought both of their attention around to one of the other doors.

"Time to go." Genesis pronounced, drawing his basket-hilted, red-bladed sword.

Grabbing Satella's hand he ran, dragging her along behind him. She could barely keep up and stumbled continuously. It was mid-stumble when one of the monsters launched itself out of a hidden door at her. Then Genesis was right there, pulling her out of the way as he cut the thing in half. In disintegrated into granular particles that then also disintegrated until nothing was left. It only took a few seconds, but by then Genesis had picked her up and was running full tilt.


	5. Memories

"How much do you know about those things?" Satella asked out of nowhere, gazing at the verdant mountains towering in the distance.

She was sitting on the window sill in the two-bed hotel room that they were apparently going to share. Satella turned her attention to Genesis, however, when she got no answer. His sword – though in it's sheath – was not at his waist, but held in his hand, the point resting on the floor. He was studying it's elaborate basket-hilt. Rapiers were the only swords that Satella knew of that had them, but Genesis' was a broadsword. It seemed a little strange to her. Then again... It had a red blade.

Just as Satella was going to check if he had even heard her question he finally answered her.

"I admit, not much."

"I've dealt with their kind before." She told him, bringing Genesis' attention around to her, "Used to fight them regularly, not that I expect you to believe me. Regardless, I know a few things about them as well."

"Well... This is an interesting turn of events."

"I propose a trading of information. From there we can decide if we'll be of use to each other, or if we should just stay out of each other's hair."

Now intrigued Genesis agreed, if only to see what she'd do and find out what she knew.

* * *

Several hours later and Genesis had a new-found respect for Satella. She had switched between flirty and professional so easily and quickly that he was amazed she hadn't given him whiplash. This switching back and forth had left him off-balance enough that Satella had managed to get him to tell her something he hadn't intended to more than once. Genesis was used to women throwing themselves at him, so he wasn't entirely sure whether flipping from flirty to professional had been deliberate or not.

Draping his shirt over the back of a chair he glanced over at Satella, who was already asleep on one of the two beds. Due to the monster – _Demon_, he corrected himself – attacks in the area they were sharing a room... For safety's sake. She hadn't been overly happy to find out, but – then again – he had been expecting a man, not a woman. Secretly, he was glad for the slightly awkward situation. It allowed them take turns keeping watch (since a few of the attacks had been in the town proper)... And he got to see her in that entirely too lovely nightgown that she had brought with her.

Smirking at the memory of her confidently – while blushing brightly – striding out of the bathroom in that thing and climbing under the covers Genesis went about finishing getting ready for bed. Just as he was about to grab a t-shirt to sleep in he paused, glanced over at Satella and decided that fair was fair.

The memory of Genesis waking her up with no shirt on to take her turn watching for an attack would be burned into Satella's memory for the rest of her life. Not that she had any objections.

* * *

Once Genesis was soundly asleep and she didn't have to worry about disturbing him Satella phoned Korvin and asked him to retrieve her gauntlet. She could charge the four jewels in the earrings that Azmaria had left for her (two jewels per earring) as they were the right type and cut. She wondered if that had been deliberate.


	6. Corvid

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait; work kept me to busy to write or post.

* * *

Satella heard a knock on the bedroom door and left her position by the window to answer. Genesis woke at the sound, though she didn't notice this since he hadn't moved and the only light was coming from the full moon outside, leaving him in deep shadows. When she opened the door Satella was a bit shocked to find Korvin on the other side; she had phoned him only an hour ago.

"Your gauntlet, Miss Harvenheit." He said quietly as he held it out to her.

Wondering how he could be present so quickly **and** have her gauntlet she took it from him and said, "Thank-you Mr. Korvin."

She wondered if her had been shadowing her.

"Korvin, huh?" Genesis said from two feet behind Satella, making her jump violently and reflexively try to slam her elbow into his gut.

Genesis' fast reflexes saved him some pain, though he was surprised by the strength of the blow. Truthfully he hadn't really believed her claim about having fought Demons, but if she had a fighting reflex for when someone snuck up on her... Maybe there was more credibility to some of what she had told him earlier that night. Genesis smirked at Satella arrogantly – which she found both sexy and infuriating – while Korvin raised a brow at both of them.

"Odd name." Genesis went on, "Where is it from?"

"It's a Latin or English name."

"'Korvin' refers to the corvid family of birds... Right?" Genesis commented, "You don't look much like a crow, or Raven considering you have brown hair."

"Yes, well, I'm not the one who picked it."

"No, from what I understand of your kind Pandemonium is the one who picks your names."

Satella was shocked. Korvin was a Demon? If that was true then how had she not known? Then again, she hadn't realized what Chrono was when she first met him, so maybe she wasn't as good at detecting them in Human form? Well, since there are some surviving Demons Satella decided to correct this short-coming of hers.

"...I'm not a full Demon." Korvin finally said after a tense pause, "My genetics were tested; my mother was Human and my father was half Human. No, I do not know how it's possible for a Human-Demon hybrid to exist. No one does." Tersely, he added, "In any case it doesn't matter. How serious is the situation?"

"I think at this point that we can contain it." Satella immediately answered with confidence.

Genesis nodded his agreement. Korvin relaxed and told them that if they needed any back-up to just think at him very loudly then left the same way that he had arrived; he teleported. In a flash of light and power he was gone without a trace. The pair stared, stunned, at where he had been for several moments before finally closing the door. Genesis went back to bed and Satella took up her vigil again.

At least now she knew how he had gotten there so fast...


	7. Download

Genesis wondered, yet again, what Satella was looking for behind him as she kneelt on the stairs of the dais, holding one of her newly charged jewels over Pandemonium's head. After taking the jewels out of her earrings and charging them – turning them into what he had recognized to be materia – she had called Korvin and confirmed that the woman on the dais was Pandemonium. All of them had been in agreement that it was best for Korvin to stay away. In the meantime, Genesis had to keep watch until Satella was done.

"Thought so ." Satella finally said, catching Genesis' attention.

"What?" He asked.

"There's only fragments of a consciousness in there... It's just barely enough to keep the Demons under control-"

Something about the way she stopped made Genesis turn around. Seeing her frozen and trembling he ran over and knelt down to get a better look at her. That was when he noticed Pandemonium's hand had grabbed her wrist in a bruising grip. Just as he was contemplating cutting the offending limb off it let go and Satella started gasping for air. Turning to him she reached out and grabbed onto his coat, clinging and trembling all over.

"Get me out of here." She ground out raggedly.

* * *

Genesis laid the passed out Satella down on the bed with a frown. She had fainted just before they exited the 'palace' and went into some kind of shock that – thankfully – had passed after only two or three minutes. Unfortunately she had remained unconscious and then became feverish. Now she was white as a sheet, trembling and sweating. There was something very wrong with her scent as well; it had turned so pungently sour that it was hard for him to not gag. Trying not to breath to much Genesis leaned over and checked to see if she still had a fever. She did and – if anything – it seemed to have gotten worse.

Remembering what Korvin had told them to do if they needed his help he thought very loudly at the quarter Demon. Korvin appeared a few seconds later with what looked like – and proved to be a few moments later – a medical bag. He checked Satella over as Genesis stood next to an open window, waiting for him to finish. At length Korvin put his equipment down and contemplated Satella for a long moment before turning to Genesis and asking him for the details of what had happened.

Genesis told him everything and Korvin – having moved over to the open window as well – came to the conclusion that Pandemonium had downloaded something into her. Their only option was to wait for her to wake up and find out if she knew anything about what Pandemonium had done to her.

Genesis was not happy.

* * *

Satella eventually woke up dizzy and disoriented. She tried to sit up, but couldn't seem to coordinate herself enough to manage it. A pair of strong hands helped her into a sitting position. Dizzily, she stared at the person's face for a full minute before realizing that it was Genesis and – even then – she kept starring. He had a very nice face that she liked to look at. Without realizing it she reached a trembling hand up to run her fingers across his cheek and said quietly, "You're so handsome."

Genesis, understanding that she wasn't entirely aware of what she was doing, made no comment. Besides, he was very used to hearing such comments.

An hour after that she seemed to be drunk. Then another hour later and it was like she was high. By the time they got around to hour three she was back to normal, didn't remember a thing. Genesis was worn out and Korvin chose then to return from across the boarder to check on her. Of course, the first thing he asked was, "Miss Harvenheit, why are you half naked?"

He eventually got an explanation of what had happened, but, first, he got a black eye from Satella for not looking away. Genesis thought it was funny and tried not to think about trembling fingers on his cheek and surprisingly spectacular kisses from a drunken, half naked woman.


	8. Coherency

Satella – now fully dressed – was running around the perimeter of the Demon city, planting her four jewels like seeds in the ground. What Pandemonium had downloaded into her was knowledge. Specifically on how to turn the Demons back into their original forms. Her four jewels, when aligned and invoked correctly would create a 'stabilization barrier'. The problem with this was that her activity was going to set the Demons off on the attack and Pandemonium couldn't hold them back... So Satella was running for her life while trying to set up a barrier. She hoped that Korvin was having better luck setting up the Magdalene Order barriers that were supposed to work in conjunction with her jewels. At least Genesis was keeping the worst of the Demons away from her...

* * *

After much ducking, dodging and weaving around Demons Satella finally planted the last jewel and recited the invocation. The Jewel Barrier went up and Korvin's barrier joined it a second later. The Demons froze in place and a winded Genesis stopped fighting them. Walking over to stand next to Satella they both watched in silent amazement as the starfish-shaped Demons turned back into people. They all looked around at their surroundings dazedly until a female finally turned to Satella and asked, "Where are we?"

It took a while to explain everything. In the end Satella and Genesis had to take them to see Pandemonium for them to believe the story. They didn't react well and panic ensued.

* * *

Satella closed the hotel room door with a sigh. She was tired and drained. Korvin was staying with the Demons to keep them calm and get them organized. Genesis, for his part, was sprawled out on the nearest of the two beds. To weary to think through what she was doing Satella dropped down next to Genesis and finally asked something that had been nagging at her.

"Genesis..."

"Mm?"

"How did I loose my shirt and bra?"

"...You really want to know?"

"Yes." She responded irritatedly. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't."

"You took them off to try and get me into bed with you. Of course, to that end, that was the tamest thing you did."

"Wha~?!" Was the best that she could get out.

"Mm. That hour would have been very enjoyable if you hadn't seemed to be so drunk. It really was a pity. You're rather good with your hands."

"What did I **do**?" She demanded, completely aghast and not thinking the question through before blurting it out.

Genesis – deciding that it was time for some payback for the torment that she had put him through – started explaining in detail everything she had done... And not one word of it was a lie, or even an exaggeration. Satella was mortified. When he was done explaining it all Genesis rolled over so that he was half on top of Satella and purred into her ear, "Would you like to see how good **I** am with my hands?"

All coherent thought ceased to function at that moment and turned into a smoking, fiery inferno of a train wreck inside her skull.


	9. Check-Up

**A/N:** At this point you guys can either treat this and the next chapter as the Epilogue, or when this starts tying in with _Red Eyes_. Up to you. There's one more chapter after this and the next one that finish tying it in with _Red Eyes_, but it's not necessary to read it.

* * *

It was three months later and Satella found herself waking up next to Genesis yet again. They didn't live together, but they often woke up in the same bed. This arrangement had been fine for both of them, but lately Satella had been noticing something that frightened her; she was becoming increasingly attached to Genesis and letting him into the places of her heart that she had locked away to protect herself from further lose. She just couldn't leave her heart open to anyone anymore. If she lost one more person it would destroy her.

Finally acknowledging that if she didn't pull away from Genesis – and fast – she wouldn't be able to ever live without him again she carefully got out of bed and got dressed. Satella was on the first flight to the farthest country from where she was that she could think of; Japan.

* * *

Satella walked into the doctor's check-up room, fighting off yet another dizzy spell. They had been plaguing her for a while.

"Good afternoon Satella-san. Please sit."

Hanging her purse on the coatrack next to the door she did as he bade and carefully sat on the examination bed.

"Now what seems to be the problem?" He asked.

"I keep getting dizzy, I have no energy and I'm constantly hungry. I also have a rash and my emotions are all over the place."

"Have you been eating properly? Full meals, three times a day?"

"Yes and snacks."

"Hmm... I see. Any non-prescription medication? Changes in your lifestyle?"

"No. None."

"Have you been experiencing any nausea?"

"Sometimes, but only if I smell fish."

"...When did you last have your menstrual cycle?"

"Uh... **Oh**."

* * *

She had been found to be pregnant six months ago, but Satella's baby looked like it was only at two months gestation. She and her doctor stared at the ultrasound – a technology which had improved greatly from the fuzzy black and white images of only a few years prior – in disturbed concern. Why was the baby developing so slowly? Was it okay?

_What am I doing wrong?_ Satella wondered.

"Satella-san..." The doctor said, "I'd like to send you to a special doctor living in the Special Zone. She may be able to figure out what is going on with your baby."

Satella nodded mutely.

* * *

Walking into the private clinic to Satella was greeted by the sight of a cheerful, bispeckiled, busty young woman wearing a cat-eared hat, a doctor's coat and sandals talking to a person behind the secretary's desk. Her entrance drew the woman's attention around.

"Well, well. Who do we have here?"

The person behind the desk – a young woman who's face Satella knew very well – moved to get a look at her and both women froze in place, staring at each other in dumbfounded disbelief. Neither woman – sisters long having been separated – had expected to ever see the other again. Deciding to respect Fiore's choice to stay away Satella turned her attention to the other woman.

"Ah..." The woman with the glasses said, realizing what was going on, "Uh, what brings you here?"

"I'm here for an appointment with-"

"Oh! I thought the name was just a coincidence! I'm the doctor. Please follow me. By the way, my name is Shader."

"Nice to meet you Shader-san." Satella responded politely as she followed the strange woman, trying not to stare at the woman's tail.

It seemed that Shader was a Demon. 'Special doctor' indeed. At least she wouldn't be dealing with it all alone.


	10. Rainer

"Alrighty then." Shader said to Satella cheerfully as she went over some papers on a clipboard a month after the first appointment, "It seems that the 'problem' isn't actually a problem per say."

"Then what's going on with my baby?"

"Well, you see..." Shader started as she lowered the clipboard, "The Harvenheit family are all part Demon and we age at 1/3 the rate of a Human, so it's making your pregnancy progress at the same rate. There's so little Demon in you guys now that this shouldn't have happened, but it seems the baby's daddy was part Demon as well, hence the slower gestation. Luckily, your body seems to have adapted just fine."

It took Satella a frazzled moment to realize that her child was going to be born in 2003. She had a small flip out that Shader patiently waited for her to finish before telling Satella that according to her test results the baby was male. This froze Satella in shock and had Fiore poking her head around the corner to listen better. There had not been a single boy born into their family in the entirety of their genealogy. The gender was a bit dumbfounding to both women.

* * *

It was the fall of 2003 when Satella found herself in a hospital going through eighteen hours of hard labour while crushing the life out of Fiore's hand. Not that the older woman seemed to notice any; she just kept calm and reminded Satella to push from the top of her belly down. Satella didn't know it, but Fiore was saving her from getting hernia via pushing in the wrong area, a problem that a lot of women end up with.

At last, with a final push and a relieved cry, the baby was out and wailing at the indignity of being crushed and forced out and into the cold. He was not impressed with the process of being born... And neither was his mother.

"Rainer." Satella gasped, "His name is Rainer..."

"Rainer it is!" Shader chirped as she cut the umbilical cord.

The ex-Sinner cheerfully handed the exhausted, new mother her baby boy while Fiore leaned over a bit to get a better look. Although she was still keeping an emotional distance from her Fiore had still been supportive and helped Satella to understand Japanese culture. Satella had been considering throughout her pregnancy asking Fiore to be Rainer's godmother, but she had decided against it due the constant emotional distance Fiore was keeping. She had a feeling that Fiore's support had been due to a sense of responsibility. It didn't bother Satella as much as she had thought it would have. It was probably because she had been resigned to raising her son by herself and without any help from the moment that she had found out she was pregnant.

Cradling Rainer close the new mother noticed that he had immediately started rooting, looking for a tit to suckle from. Satella smiled down at him and – remembering what she had been told about breastfeeding – complied with his silent demand. Her unspoken fear was that she would loose him, just like she had lost everyone else that she had ever cared about. It was the exact same fear that had caused her to run as far away from Genesis as she possibly could. If he had gotten any further into her heart loosing him would have shattered her completely.

Satella honestly didn't know how she was going to handle being a mother, or the constant fear of something happening to Rainer... But she would do her utmost to raise him properly and to help him to become the best man that he could possibly be. She could do no less for him.

* * *

**A/N:** Next chapter is the tie-in with my other fanfic _Red Eyes._


	11. Tie-In

**ALERT!** IF YOU HAVE NOT READ _RED EYES_ THIS CHAPTER WILL SEEM COMPLETELY RANDOM AND A LITTEL HELF-A$$ED... IT ALSO HAS SOME MINOR SPOILERS FOR THAT FANFIC UP TO CHAPTER 16. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.

That said, enjoy! This fanfic is done!

* * *

In a week neither Satella nor he would even remember what had lead to the argument, but somehow she had ended up in an all out fight with Zelmen Clock that she was just barely surviving. It's not easy dodging a pyrokinetic's fireballs when your hair goes all the way down to your knees. She was seriously debating cutting her hair. Sensing her hiding spot heating up entirely too much Satella immediately vacated the spot, picked up a chunk of debris as she went and hurled it at him with unerring accuracy. She heard a satisfyingly solid thump, followed by Zelmen's swearing just before ducking into another hiding spot.

Thankfully The Order Coffin Company had finally decided to show up. She still had to avoid the fireballs (and get in a few shots of her own, just because she could) until the Suppression Team and the Compromiser were finally able to get things settled down. Zelmen left and Satella got a job offer from the Suppression Team.

"Satella? Is that really you?" A familiar voice asked, clearly surprised.

Turning around the Jewel Summoner was shocked to see a familiar, purple-haired head and red eyes.

"Ch-Chrono?" She stuttered out.

"Yeah." He smiled his usual, gentle smile, "It's good to see you again. I didn't realize..."

"Ah, no. Don't worry about it."

Turning to the Suppression Team she told them that she'd think about their offer. The next day the two of them got caught up over coffee. Satella got more than a few shocks and eventually took the job offer.

* * *

It was a couple of months later when Chrono ran into Satella while she was out getting groceries with Rainer, who looked about eighteen months old by then.

"Uh... S-Satella, who's...?"

"Hm? Oh he's mine."

"**EH**?"

"What?"

"Well, I thought that you liked... You know."

"Wha- Oh for crying out loud! I was drunk and it was a stupid joke! I said so at the time!"

"But, when we first met..."

Satella wasn't following. It took a half hour as they went around getting what they needed (Chrono did the cooking so he did the shopping since he knew what he needed) for her to figure out that he was referring to her comment about him being handsome young man... While in his sealed form. She had to exasperatedly explain that it was fairly normal to compliment a young man of twelve to fourteen in such a manner.

"Uhm... I was actually physically younger than that at the time..."

Satella turned a shocked expression on him.

"Wha- Wait. How old were you?"

"Mm... I guess nine or ten would be the closest..."

It was only then that she registered just how tall he was and how much she had to look up to look him in the eye.

"Good grief, have you ever been short?" She muttered and continued with her shopping.

Rainer giggled, making Chrono smile.

* * *

On her way home Satella spotted the perfect jewels for summoning. They were horrifically expensive, but she had enough in her savings account to get them and she knew that she was going to need them in her new line of work. So, wishing that she was still rich, Satella bought them. Rainer seemed fascinated by them. Satella was very pleased by this, though she didn't let him hold the jewels.

She charged the jewels that night. It was only three weeks later that she ended up needing them.


End file.
